Telephones for use in automotive vehicles such as cellular telephones commonly have a handset which rests in a cradle during standby conditions and may remain in the cradle during use in a hands-free mode. A base or transmitter/receiver is connected to the handset by a cord (or even by a radio coupling) and contains or is connected to a speaker and a microphone for use during hands-free operation. The cradle and base may be separate or integrated in a single unit. The handset, of course, contains its own speaker or earpiece and microphone for use in the hand-held mode.
Commonly, the handsets for such application have either of two configurations. First, the earpiece and microphone are on the front of the handset, which faces down in the cradle, and a keypad and display are located on the back of the handset. This arrangement is convenient for use in the hands-free mode since the keypad faces up (or out) for easy use by the operator. Attendant difficulties with the first configuration is that when the handset is used in the hand-held mode the keypad is subject to being pushed by accident, and the handset must be shifted in position or to another hand to operate the keypad or to see the display. The second configuration has the keypad and display on the front of the handset. This is easy to use in the hand-held mode but for hands-free operation the keys and display are face down in the cradle and are not readily visible or accessible for operation.